1968 Photo Contest, Photo Stories, 3rd prize
Photographer

Max Scheler

Stern

01 February, 1968

Nurse Ingemarie Papendiek disinfects Philiph Blaiberg's mouth, nose and ears, after his successful heart transplant by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital.

Blaiberg was the third person to receive a heart transplant, the first open heart transplant was also conducted by Barnard. The 58-year-old dentist received his new heart on 2 January 1968 from Clive Haupt, a 24-year-old textile worker who had died from a stroke on a Cape Town beach the day before. Blaiberg's transplant gained additional media attention because the donor was a black South African. Blaiberg returned home after two months in hospital. He died on 17 August 1969 from heart complications.

About the photographer

Max Scheler

Technical information

Focal length
35 mm

This image is collected in